当京剧遇到钢琴

广州音乐厅上演的由谭盾指导的“霸王别姬”音乐会上，见证了中国古典京剧与西方传统钢琴交流碰撞出的绚烂火花。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

reconciling 使和解，使一致

premiere 首演

disciple 追随者，弟子

clamour 吵闹

percussion 打击乐器

EinHeldenleben 交响诗（施特劳斯所作著名乐章）

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Xinghai Concert Hall, Guangzhou, China — review（357words）

By Ken Smith

* * *

One would be hard pressed to find more conflicting musical sources than the piano and Peking opera: the instrument that essentially defined western tonality versus a tradition where tuning is hardly an overriding concern. But for several internationally minded Chinese composers, the challenge in reconciling the two has proved irresistible.

The latest, and perhaps most ambitious attempt came in the premiere of Tan Dun’s Farewell My Concubine, a symphonic poem for piano and Peking opera performer. The composer’s inspiration was the 120th anniversary (doubling the 60-year “life cycle” in Asian cultures) of the birth of Mei Lanfang, Peking opera’s most celebrated figure. The chief proponent was conductor Long Yu, China’s most active commissioner of new concert music, who led the premiere.

The piece’s success, though, came primarily in pairing pianist Yuja Wang with the Peking opera performer Xiao Di, a disciple of Mei Lanfang’s son Mei Baojiu. Wang’s athletic pianism, so effective in romantic repertory, proved equally apt in mimicking the clamour of Peking opera percussion and plucking piano strings like a Chinese zither.

Tan’s score remained notably free of exoticism, its westernisations freely referencing Cage, Cowell and Crumb while the Chinese front extended traditional Peking opera technique, leaving plenty of room in the orchestration for vocal ornaments. Dramatically, Wang became the Chu warlord Xiang Yu, Xiao Di his concubine, with the music reimagining the original tale in symphonic terms much as, say, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet reimagines Shakespeare.

Despite the piece’s sturdy structure, one could envision the two soloists being given more to do, and growing bolder in their interactions. Their encores, though — Xiao Di’s traditional Peking opera tune and Wang’s blistering version of Horowitz’s Carmen Variations — revealed how much they had each ventured from their respective traditions already.

Musically, Strauss’s EinHeldenleben made a strange fit. It also lacked the polish of Long Yu’s performances with his other orchestras, the Shanghai Symphony and the China Philharmonic. But the GSO made the piece’s inner workings arguably more vibrant, and, coming right after Concubine, it did make one hear Strauss’s sonic portrayals of the Hero and his companion in a rather different light.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. How many times have Tan Dun’s production been on stage?

a. Zero

b. One

c. Too many times

d. Two

2. What is the name of Tan Dun’s production?

a. Turandot (图兰朵)

b. Liang Zhu (梁祝)

c. Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬)

d. Cats (猫)

3. What is the advantage of this specific pianist, Yujia Wang?

a. She knows how to sing Peking Opera herself.

b. Her athletic pianism helped the two styles to merge.

c. She can speak Chinese.

d. The Peking Opera performer knows her well.

4. Which piece was chosen by the pianist as her solo performance?

a. EinHeldenleben（交响诗）

b. Yellow River（黄河）

c. Moonlight Sonata（月光）

d. Carmen（卡门）

[1] 答案b. One

解释：文章第二段作者讲到谭盾的这一个音乐制作是首演，所以演出场次是一次。

[2] 答案c. Farewell My Concubine (霸王别姬)

解释：文章开头就说了，谭盾的创作是霸王别姬（“Farewell My Concubine”）。

[3] 答案b. Her athletic pianism helped the two styles to merge.

解释：文章第三段作者提到Yujia Wang的演奏特点有助于钢琴声音与京剧音乐的融合。

[4] 答案d. Carmen（卡门）

解释：文章倒数第二段有讲到钢琴家最后的独奏是卡门（Carmen）。